On Saturday, April 9 the Amazon bee co-op had its second day of hive building. Our day started at 10 am with David Stucky (co-op founder) installing two 3 pound packages of bees each with a fertile queen. Then we went on to completing some hive bodies.

We finished a number of Kenyan top bar hives (TBH). These hives are made of very thick incense-cedar lumber. The bees build their comb on top bars without the traditional frame. They must draw out their own comb.

The sloped sides of these hives mimics the shape of the comb that honey bees draw out naturally, and allows them to easily create the thicker honey comb and thinner brood comb. Our co-op has created different width top bars. The brood comb bars should be placed nearer the entrance where bees would normally place their brood.

These hives need more frequent management than vertical hives. This means checking on bees more often, removing honey when necessary & offering clean frames for brood build when needed. Since only a lid comes off & the top bars are tight, we hope this means less stress for the bees & less strain on our backs.

I found an interesting website describing these hives at http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/kenya.htm.

Follow our new season as we install our bees. There will be a Kenyan TBH at the Reach Center garden. Look, but don't touch. I'll try to get days I work the bees posted.